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It’s a noble aim: Talk about the plight of London’s poorest residents, point out the links between low income and bad health, and then hatch some schemes to solve the problem.

And while they’re at it, maybe they can do something about the weather.

Because despite my admiration for their aspirations, I find it hard to be optimistic about an event called Putting A Picture To Poverty, sponsored by the local chapter of the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO). The panel, to be held at Landon public library Thursday evening, will feature local activists such as Abe Oudshoorn, founder of the London Homelessness Outreach Network, and Glen Pearson, former MP and co-director of the London Food Bank.

“Our aim is to open people’s eyes,” says Janet Hunt, president of the Middlesex-Elgin chapter of the nurses’ association. “And then, afterward, put out a call to action.”

Hunt says the event will help make a largely invisible problem more visible.

The numbers are certainly stark: According to Statistics Canada, the overall poverty rate in the London metropolitan area in 2010 was 12.3%, compared with 8.8% in Ontario and 9% in Canada.

And as Hunt explains, low-income Londoners usually face far bigger health challenges than most. Those challenges include the difficulty of finding decent affordable housing, paying for prescription drugs, and being able to afford nutritious food and health aids, such as wheelchairs.

The burden can be even greater for those suffering from mental illness; according to numbers provided by Cheryl Forchuk, professor and associate director of nursing research at Western University, 27% of psychiatric survivors live in poverty, compared with 12.6% of those living without a disability.

The nurses’ association, adds Hunt, has approved a number of resolutions designed to help solve the growing poverty problem, including increasing the minimum wage, developing a provincial housing plan and an affordable not-for-profit national child-care program.

But what can the average person do?

Hunt says people can lobby politicians, write letters to newspaper editors and sign up for volunteer work.

“The first step is recognizing there’s a problem and getting involved,” she says.

These are laudable ideas. And I hope people take them to heart.

But these are difficult times, when those fortunate enough to have a job are working harder and worrying more than ever about losing that job.

And what, I wonder, would Hunt say to someone who argues they can’t devote their energy to helping the poor because they’ve got their own problems and are simply trying to save their job, protect their family and keep their head above water?

“I honestly don’t know,” says Hunt. “It (poverty) is a huge problem and just what the actual solution is,God only knows.”

And that’s the nub.

I think solving the problem of poverty seems, to most of us, about as realistic as building a ladder to the moon.

We’re living in desperate times when people feel pressured to hunker down and protect what they have — and could quickly lose.

And sadly, that often leads to an “us versus them” ­mentality where it’s easy to ignore the problems of others, and easier still to believe those “others” are authors of their own misfortune.

That’s misguided thinking, perhaps. But it’s an attitude that may prove impossible to overcome.